Don't Cry, It's Only a Little Drop of Blood
by Megara
Summary: Previously known as Angels wings. Has been changed and renamed. With a new chapter and more to come. A woman takes a wrong path in her life that will change her life, her beliefs, her morals, her sanity, and her humanity.
1. Amber Lees

Hello, here's some copyrighted material. LoK characters, world, and such belong to Eidos, not to me.

I DO own, however, Amber Lees.

This is just a crappy little prologue.

And a huge update from me.

The cell was small, but clean. The floor had white tiles and the wall had white plaster, even the small bed had white sheets. But you would be able to tell any of this when the lights were out.

If you did, then you could easily see a figure curled in a fetal position on the small bed. You wouldn't believe that she once Amber Lees, a 24-year-old woman who had owned a small apartment about 30 miles from the underground lab she was currently being held. You wouldn't believe that she worked as a secretary for a dentist's office and that she was still attending the local college and would be graduating that spring.

No, you wouldn't believe any of this, because what you would see was something no longer human. The skin was light slivery blue, almost turquoise, yet lighter, dark large wings, bigger than her body, were mounted on her back. Underneath the blankets, her hands and feet were cloven. Her once rusty color hair was now dark reddish hue, and if she were awake you would see her golden eyes looking at you with dread and fear.

Yes, Amber Lees was here, but not of her own accord. You see; she was starting to fall on hard times. She was caught up in studying for final exams and was getting behind on payments. She needed quick cash to keep from loosing her apartment whose lease was strict on payments. She could have gotten another cheaper apartment somewhere else, but she liked this one too much.

While she was munching on a bagel for breakfast, she saw an ad in the paper for anyone willing to be a test subject for 1,500 dollars. Of course, she went right up to the labs in the college and filled out some forms and let them draw her blood to see if she was compatible for the testing. She was.

The next day, she signed a contract, a contract she should have read first, and then they injected chemicals into her body. Her body had some reaction and thus she was taken to this underground lab. At first she was willing, they promised her more money if she allowed them further testing.

They injected chemicals into her body strand a creature's DNA within hers. The changes didn't start to happen till she was fretting about being kept in the lab so long. The people in white coats promised that she she'll be away from her job for a week, no more. Yet, it had been three weeks and there was no mention of her leaving the lab.

She hated being kept in a little room and have a nurse come in every hour to draw blood or inject potions into her blood stream that made her feel funny. Sometimes she was taken out of her room for tests. Any subject on going home was quickly dismissed or she was promised thoroughly that she would soon go home.

Then she began to notice the bluish sores on her legs and arms. She was terrified that the people in the white coats had given her cancer, but they assured her it was side effects from the tests.

Then she demanded to go home. She screamed, hollered, and threatened to bring charges on them for kidnapping. Then they showed her a contract that she signed before the testing began. It states real small at the bottom that if the willing subject is unable to make decisions based upon his/her welfare, the lab staff would make the decisions for the subject.

Amber said she was capable of making decisions on her own and she decided that she wanted to leave. The staff promised to bring in a doctor to examine her, a doctor of their own.

Thus Amber was trapped within that underground lab, trapped and helpless unable to do anything to prevent the changes in her body and mind.


	2. Angel and Demon

Amber Lees belongs to me Nosgoth things belongs to Eidos.

She felt the wave of bile rise up in her throat, and she swallowed it, even though she wished she would throw up. She inhaled deeply, the back of her claw against her forehead. She ran her tongue over her unusual fangs and whimpered.

"Got a problem in there, angel?" A rugged voice called from outside. She heard knuckles cracking. "Somethin' I need ta fix?"

She gritted her teeth and pulled the blanket over her. She held her breath and remained silent.

"That's what I thought." A chuckle was emitted and then the guard went back to his Playboy magazine.

_"Just go to sleep." _She told herself. _"Because when I sleep it's like I'm not here anymore. I can forget it all for a little while."_

But only to come back to the prison she was in now. She remembered the stories of veteran that were POWs in the war, of how they had survived and was able to go home. Except for her, she was held by her own fellow Americans and experiments were being done on her body and she was now a freak show and she was being held there by a legal contract.

She curled up, her talons clutch at her aching head, where she could hear a sound, only she could hear. She told the people in the white lab coats about it and they said it maybe tinnitus, hearing sounds in the ears. It was something she could have had and not known it or it could have been caused by the testing (Experiments were never called experiments. They were always called 'testing' by the lab coats).

One lab coat gave her gave her a small tape player with a cassette tape that had ocean waves and whale and dolphin noises. He said that it would help the tinnitus, maybe take her mind off it. The tape player didn't last long. Ronald, the lovable guard outside her room had taken it and smashed it calling it a lot of yoga shit.  He gave her a pop across the ear saying he can fix the tinnitus out of her.

Ronald Duckson was a big man, one look and people would think, stupid big guy, but that wasn't the case with him. He was smart and careful. He always made sure no lab coat was watching when he disciplined Amber and he knew how to inflict pain without leaving marks.

How Amber hated him. She would give anything to sink her claws into his throat and rip everything out. Just to see that smirking, triumphant, and overbearing look that he always wore to be wiped off with terror and pleading was enough to make her smile bearing her sharp fangs.

The sound rose and she winced. Was tinnitus supposed to hurt this much? Wasn't it suppose to be just sound she was hearing not pain?

She closed her eyes and bit her lips to keep from whimpering. Ronald would just love to use it as an excuse to hit her. What he had against her, she would never know.

She felt herself being pulled, not physically, but her mind seemed drawn to something she could see or fathom. The sound grew steadily louder to a pounding on her brain.

_"Please, dear God, please, make this go away. Please, God." _

The sound grew to a screaming noise, high and screechy. She thought her eardrums would burst.

_"Please forgive me for my sins, Lord. Okay, please, make this stop, make it stop!"_

She heard a ripping sound, not in her ears like the tinnitus bit further, a sound she could barely hear in the background of the assailant in her ears.

_"God, I can't take this anymore, just take me, please, I don't wanna live anymore if this keeps up, please, make the sound go away!"_

The pitch grew to a sound she was certain only cats and dogs knew. Her eyes open wide and her mouth gape to a silent scream and her back arched, wings spread as if she was flying on her back.

_"God, please, ANSWER ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!"_

It stopped. The tinnitus, the ripping, and the pulling stopped at that instance. The relief was so great that tears came to her eyes.

Then she relaxed to drift to sleep, then….

_Forgive me if I'm not God, child._

Her eyes snapped opened and looked frantically around for the source of the voice. No one was in the room with her.

_I'm afraid you won't find me in that room, Lady Lees._

"Who are you!?"

"Hey, in there! Need something fixed?!" Ronald brass voice echoed into the room. Scraping of a chair being pushed back rang like bell of doom. She laid her head down and feigned sleep.

The door opened and a grizzled head popped in. "That's what I thought. If I hear one more peep out you, wings, I'm gonna fix you right up real good." The door shut and locked and the sit squeaked at Ronald sat his large frame on it.

Amber held her breath for almost a full minute and let it go with relief. Ronald must be tired or else he would have been hitting her again. Maybe the voice was just her tinnitus or her imagination, anyway it was gone.

She curled into the fetal position to sleep, her wings draping over edge onto the floor. She closed her eyes and…..

_Do not be frightened child. Think your words to me and he cannot hear me speaking to you._

No doubt now about the voice being tinnitus now. It spoke loud and cleared now within her head. Possibly the drugs they've given her an hour ago. It was entertainment for tonight whatever it was.

_"Who are you?" _She thought.

_A friend that is interested in your welfare, Lady._

The voice sounded, yet had a high pitch to it. It sounded like what an old snake would sound like it could speak.

_"I don't think you're a friend of mine. No one knows I'm here and I don't recognize your voice." _

_It's true that we've never met, but I may be the best friend you have in these circumstances. You want to leave that place, do you not?_

_"More than anything."___

_Then I can help you leave tonight._

_"No, not tonight.__ It's Ronald's turn to guard my room tonight.  I hate him."_

_Shhh, do not fear. I have a…little friend that can help you. He's on his way now._

_"I can't.  I can't balance right on my feet. I either have to lean against a wall or else I'm crawling on my hands and knees. Even if you can take care of Ronald, I won't get far by on foot."_

_Trust me child, trust me._

Robert Duston hummed to the beat as he swirled the mop across white tile floor. His headphones clung securely to his head and emitted soft sounds of the Beach Boys. If he hadn't been wearing those he might have been able to hear the horrifying creature that would kill him moment from now.

Ah, sweet pretty Doris. One more week of this janitorial work here and he'll have enough to make the last payments for that engagement ring. And including the 'hush hush' money they give him along with his pay he could get a candle light dinner at some black coat restaurant with those French waiters and the whole shabam and then he can pop his question.

Robert murmured some of the words softly as he dipped his mop into the soapy water, and then he felt wetness on his shoulder. Did some dirty water get on him from the bucket?

He slowly tilted his head to look up.

Then his head was gone. His decapitated body fell still holding the broom. Blood washed away the water from the spilt bucket and stained the floor for weeks after the events of this night.

Further done the hall, just 30 meters from where Robert was killed, Ronald was licking his lips and studied the thighs and breasts of a blonde model on page 13 in his magazine.

Oh, he can just picture his mother screeching at him now.

_"RONNIE!!!! GOD SENDS PEOPLE TO HELL FOR PORNOGRAPHY, TO HELL. DEMONS WILL COME AND FLY YOU AWAY TO HELL FOR YOU TO BURN, BURN, BURN!!!!!!!"_

"Bitch." Ronald snarled under his breath. He always got angry when he thought of his mother and her screeches of hellfire and brimstone. She didn't shut up until the day, when he was a child, they found her body at the bottom of the stairs one morning after she had went up to give Ronald his righteous whipping with a rod.

_"SPARE THE ROD, SPOIL THE CHILD"_

He hated angels. His mother loved angels. She always collected cheap little statues of angels holding babies, praying, flying, and doing all kinds of holy shit. She always pointed at them and said, "This is what mama is going to look like when she dies and goes to Heaven."

The angels were always of beautiful women, never any baby angels or male angels either. Ronald heard rumors that his mother could have become a model if she hadn't married his alcoholic father.

Now the old bitch is dead with her neck broken and is hopefully burning in Hell right now. But now he has to take care of a _live _angel, just like how his mother took care of those fake ones.

A scraping sound made his pick up his head from his memories. Another sound echoed.

His eyes moved from side to side, his body tensed. He seen enough horror movies to know that when you hear strange sound, it's best not to shrug your shoulders and ignore it. People that do that tend to be the first ones to go.

He drew his gun from his belt, Miss Ivy Lovey on page 13 forgotten. He slowly moved from his seat, with surprising grace for a large man. He was a well-trained killer, but nothing could have trained him for the killer that lay in the shadows watching him.

"Hey, Robert, ya there?" He called.

Nothing.

"Robert?"

Nothing.

He licked his lips, feeling the age-old animal instinct that lived in every human being that told them when to be afraid. Ronald was a large man and a proud one too. He wasn't about to shy away from what could possibly be a practical joke from a janitor.

"Robert, you sonofabitch, if ya there, cut the shit. I got a gun and I've been trained to shoot the instance somethin' moves, so don't get any ideas about popping out and spookin' me. I can make a big hole in you with this thing."

Nothing.

Ronald was ignoring the instinct to be afraid and run. Foolish decision.

_"If only they had more goddamn lights down here. I know this is a fuckin' secret lab, but it sure as hell don't have to look like one."_

Drip.

Ronald gasped and tightened his grip on his gun.

Drop.

Drip.

Drop.

"C'mon on out, dammit!"  
Drip-drop.

A flash of red in the dark.

Drip-drop. Step.

Ronald aimed his gun ready to fire at the next sight.

Step. Step. Drip-drop.

Then it emerged, so slowly Ronald almost thought it was surrendering itself. The thing filled the hallway. It bent it head to keep from brushing it against the ceiling. Its body was red and scaly, great dark horns crowned its head and shoulders. Red eyes peered down at him with…(Great God!!!) with Amusement.

It held within its hands, so ungodly human like, and its dark claws holding Robert's head.

Ronald screamed and fired.

Bullets sparked against the monster's hard body, inflicting no damage.

The thing threw back its head and laughed. LAUGHED.

Ronald kept firing as it took great steps to him. The shots echoing, searing his eardrums and sparks flashing against the demon's torso. As it picked up Ronald, he realized he had urinated in his pants.

Amber huddle on the bed, terrified with her wings and sheets swaddled around her, she stared wide-eyed at the door. Her talons covered her now sensitive ears from the pounds of gunshot. She uttered a soft sound of horror at the deep laugh that could have belonged to the devil himself. Ronald screamed and a thud sounded down the hall and the scream was cut off.

Loud footsteps, so loud they could only belong to something huge, rang from out the door. The door was pulled off the hinges and an ungodly monster poked its head in and saw her. Amber could no longer hold it in. She shrieked, expelling all air from her lungs, forcing her to gasp for air afterwards.

The thing actually smiled with pleasure at her reaction. It pulled its 'lips' from its teeth showing her rows of razors for teeth.

"You…come." It said in a deep voice, a voice that could only belong to a demon.

Wha….what!?" Amber was overwhelmed that this monster could understand the human language.

"YOU…COME HERE!!!" It jerked its clawed right hand toward itself in universal 'come here'.

"I wo…can't." Amber replied wisely changing won't to can't. "I can't balance…they did something to my…."

"COME!!!!!!"  
It was getting impatient, not a very good thing. Amber slowly, never taking her eyes off the demon, moved to the edge of the bed. She placed a talon to the wall for better balance, and pushed off the mattress. She stumbled, catching herself against the wall.

She made her way across the room by leaning against the wall, as soon as she was within reach, the demon reached in and wrapped a huge claw around her waist and lifted her off her feet. She squealed and wiggled against his grip and became nauseous as it took her though the doorway. The cold air in the hall brought more goose bumps to her skin.

She heard crying down one end of the hall, a man sobbing. It grew louder as the demon carried down the hall. Her eyes widen at the sight.

Ronald was on his back and tears running down his stubbled cheeks. His clothes were wrinkled, and he was bleeding a little and there was a stain at his crotch. But his neck drew her attention. It was bent in an angle that was impossible.

"Ang….Miss Lees, please, I…" Ronald sobbed, when he saw her. "I can't move my body. Jesus! I'm crippled! I'm a fuckin' cripple! Miss Lees, I can't feel anything…."

She opened her mouth to say something, but she was whisked away by the demon into the next corridor. Ronald's crying and pleading stayed with her for a long time.

"Put me down!" She yelled when she had gotten over her fright of the demon.

The demon's hand was getting clammy to her skin and her right wing kept hitting the wall and banging the doorknobs of doors as they pass. It was unnerving to feel pain in a limb you've never had until recently.

Dammit, you heard me. Put me the hell down!!" She kicked her legs at its side, her cloven feet barely connecting with its torso. It ignored her and trudged up a set of stairs.

The steps were luckily made of concrete, but they were crushed under the demon's wait. She curled her legs up as bits of concrete and dust hit her legs. What would have been a brisk jog up the stairs for a human was made in two simple steps for a demon and he was on the ground floor. Amber's legs became sore after a bending them up and she hung there in its grasp.

_"What a strange picture we would make." _She mused to herself. _"Little blue and dark winged me and big red monster here. We'd both be something out of Ripley's Believe It or Not. The Odd Couple, yeah, that's right. _

_"We must be on ground level now. I bet he's looking for a wall that separating inside from outside, so he can bust out to, well, the outside. I hope it's a million dollars in damages. Serves 'em right. _

_"When I get away from him and go to the police and get me a lawyer I'll sue their asses for more millions. I bet a lot of lawyers are going to want my case. There's that shitty contract, but surely what they did to me had to be illegal."_

Her wing banged into a door handle hard, making her yelp and bring water to her eyes. The demon stopped, she looked through blurry eyes to see his turning his head this way and that. He seemed to be lost.

Amber went back to her own thoughts. _"I wonder what my friends would say when they see me. I know Jody will say I look sexy and not change a thing. Stupid. Manda will probably have an asthma attack and get her aspirator out. That reminds me, where's my thin…"  
_She looked at the door whose handle she banged her wing into and recognized it. She remembered going into this door when she first came here. They said they wanted to store her things here for a while to decontaminate them, but she never saw them again after that.

She grabbed the doorknob and twisted it and the door swung open to her pull. The demon gave a curious grunt as Amber pulled on the door to slided out of the demon's grasp. She fell, banging her knees on the hard floor and pulled herself inside and shut the door before the demon could fully grasp that she was free from his huge claw.

The loud roar of rage made the door almost rattle. She dragged herself across the floor and pulled herself up to the shelf at the back of the room. Her new eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and that frightened her, telling her she was becoming less human as time went on. A sense of panic that rushed her adrenaline at the growling and snorting on the other side of the door.

_"Why doesn't it just bust in and grab me?" _She asked herself. Then she realized that someone must have wanted her bad enough to not allow the monster to risk any damages to her. The room could collapse on her if that thing broke through.

She pulled herself up against the shelf, and saw her bag. Her gym bag where she had packed necessities she thought she would need for a one week stay at the lab. She grabbed it and swung it off the shelf. Its weight nearly made her fall with it to her side.

Now what to do now? If she stayed in here, the demon will surely break in to get her and maybe kill her in the process, but who's to say that killing wasn't its intent after all? Whether it is rescuing her or taking somewhere to eat, it didn't matter, as long as it got her out of this place. The thought that it could be taking her to somewhere worse rose never rose in her mind.

She crawled to the door and turned the knob. A large red claw banged the door opened and snatched her bodily though the door. Amber clung to her bag to keep from dropping it.

The thing almost seemed to stomp down the hall, its grip on her unnecessarily tight. She will not be able to slip through his grasp again.

Amber's mind began to race. Where was security? Surely _someone _had to have heard this thing's thundering footsteps and its roar of rage at her. In movies, there was usually screaming and killing when a large scary monster was loose.

Then she saw the nurse. The woman was laying face down on the floor, a tray and it's contents spread out before her.

_"Oh, God!__ She's dead. I know she is."_

But as the demon carried Amber closer she saw the woman's body expand as she took breath. She was alive, but sleeping.

Amber stared as she was carried by. That was the woman who gave her the daily injections. She was a bit glad that the woman wasn't dead, she had been very kind to her, bringing her the golden injections each day.

Could the building be asleep like this nurse? Yep. There was a security guard there, slump against the wall snoring.

Wait, that wall was….

**CRASH**

Amber shielded her face from the falling rubble, yet pieces cut and scrapped her arms and face. She shook the glass and bits from her short hair and squinted through the dust to see the outside meadow.

She coughed as the demon carried her away from the building, moving faster now that he was in the open. They were at the top of the hill when Amber began to feel the pull again. It was the same pull that she felt in her room, before the nightmarish demon appeared.

Then the lift began, it made her feel sick to her stomach and lights began to dance in her eyes. The feeling was similar to being on a roller coaster, yet worse, much worse.

Then she was falling, her wings instinctually fanned out, yet caught no air. Then a splash and she was soaked. And there was also darkness.

"Blast it, man! You failed."

"I did not. She's in our realm. That's what you wanted."

"I wanted her _here_! In this room with us."

"It's fortunate that I was able to bring her to Nosgoth at all. Sending demons through dimensions is one task, but transferring a being from one dimension to another is quite different. I believe I warned you of this before we began."

"Very well, you have made your point quite well. You are dismissed. I trust that what has happened in this room will stay in this room."

"Yes, my Lord. Yes. You can trust me."

"Good."

The Guardian of the Pillar of Dimensions left the room almost slamming the door behind him. The other Guardian's fingers tapped his staff as he contemplated this dilemma.

Well, not exactly a dilemma at all actually. Just a small unforeseen problem, that's all. Nothing that he, the great manipulator of the Circle of Nine, could not solve. But he did have to admit he could never have brought the girl here without the young Guardian's assistance.

He had been a mite apprehensive about requiring the young Guardian's assistance, but the fool obeyed without question. The previous Guardian of Dimension wouldn't have trusted Moebius as far as he could throw the Pillars.

Moebius did not worry about the young Guardian speaking of Moebius's task for him. Because within three weeks, the fool will be dead, murdered by a very angry vampire lord.

Amber felt cold, very cold. And she was very dirty and uncomfortable. Of course, she was lying in the middle of a muddy swamp wearing nothing for the cotton thin shorts and shirt the lab people gave her. She sat up, her bruises hurting, and looked about.

What could have once been a grand temple lay in ruins to the east of her. Moss was clinging to the stones and engravings nearly wiped away with erosion. The trees created a canopy that blocked out the sun completely, giving her a sense of nighttime. Why this pleased her, she did not know.

Her bag was lying near her on dry grass, she snatched it up and unzipped it quickly. Yes, everything was safe and sound and in order. She took out a pair of blue jeans she had brought with her. She slipped out of the ruined shorts and hopped into the jeans. She felt better being partially dry and yet still she felt dirty, but better.

She wondered if she was in Florida now. If so, then why hadn't she ever heard of there being temples falling apart in swamps before? This would be a big tourist attraction for sure.

But how did she come to be in Florida, if this _is _Florida? New Jersey was far from Florida, wasn't it? What had happened?

She sat at the edge of the muddy water and pondered what her fate could be. Eaten by alligators? Die of starvation? Get murdered?  She tried standing, only to fall on her ass.

_"Doctors will be able to fix me up. Almost anything can be fixed with science of the modern age. I just gotta find them."_

With that, she grabbed a thick stick that was half buried in the mud. She pulled herself up to her cloven feet and found that if she leaned forward on the stick, she could get around a little easier. She stumbled along and decided to try out the ruin temple. It could be a tourist attraction after all and have people waiting inside.

She could smell the wet air and other details with her stronger smelling sense, but could not know what these meant to her. If she had known what they were, she would have realized that there was a vampire around nearby.


	3. Upon Being Discovered

A doorway was covered in growth and mud was built up at the edge. She had to tear away the vines and get on her knees to dig away the mud at the base. It felt strange feeling cool mud on three digit hands. Her new hands easily cut through the mud whereas her old ones would have only dug grooves at a time. Out of breath, she tried the door's ring knob. It squealed opened and nearly fell off the hinges.

She wedged the door closed, after making sure her wings were safely inside with her and wouldn't be smashed in the door. They were bothersome; the doctors will have to amputate them for sure.

She wanted to sit down and relax. Her chest was heaving from exhaustion. How could she have so easily tired from just digging? Was something wrong with her? Well, of course there was something wrong with her! Look at her, she looked like a freak. She looked at her muddy talons and they almost gleamed through the dull mess of the mud. She dropped them to her sides and hefted her bag to her shoulder. She leaned heavily against the wall and used the stick for support; she made her way down the hall.

Strands of light cut through the dark pit of the hall, allowing her see, though strangely she was sure she could see with out the light. A pool of light on the stone floor greeted her in a large room. It may have been a grand hall or a just a very large chamber for all she knew. She collapsed within the sunlight with her wings beneath her.

To her disgust they had been dragged through the mud and the feather were stuck together. She tried to wipe the mud away and only managed to painfully remove some feathers. She gave up, what was the point? They were going to be removed soon anyhow.

She dug through her bag and got her cell-phone. She checked the battery and it was still there, the people had not tried to remove it. She clumsily dialed 911 with a huge digit. She wondered what she should say. 'Hello, 911 Emergency? I just escape from this secret lab with the help of this monster demon and now I'm stuck in the middle of no where with black wings and blue skin. Could you send someone to help me?'

The phone emitted a scratchy static that almost her hurt her sensitive hearing. No signal? Okay, no problem, just need to get outside. She hated to go all the way down the hall. She was exhausted enough from that. She looked up at opening between the wall and ceiling that the light was coming through. She held the phone out toward it and pressed redial.                    

Static.

She walked closer and tried again.

Static.

She got to the base of the wall.

Static.

Vines had grown through the walls and down through the hole. She put the phone between her teeth and climbed up the vines. Her wings hung down, pulling at her back painfully.

She held onto the wall, her newly sharp teeth were leaving imprints in the plastic of the cell-phone. She managed to haul herself to the edge of the shaft. She took the phone from her mouth, noting the teeth marks on it "Oh, Jesus, please let this work. Please. I don't want to be stuck out here like this. Please."  She pressed redial.

She could hear the static before she could bring it to her ear. "Shit!" A vine snapped beneath her weight and she fell 15 ft. Her heart nearly stopped for the seconds of unfeeling terror and then she hit the stone floor.

Her wings prevented her from breaking her arm or smashing her head on the stone. They crumbled beneath her and the floor, somewhat cushioning her body. She lay there dazed, her wings bent at painful odd angles. She sat up shaking touching her head. The phone lay nearby broken. The plastic case had popped apart and the insides spilt out.

"Dammit dammit dammit." She pulled herself frantically to it and gently picked it to prevent more damage. Okay, she has it, but now where does what go where?

She arranged the mechanics where they look like they should; the keys went through the keyholes, okay that she knew. After she put where everything looked like it was suppose to go, she tried to pop the plastic back together. She squeezed harder and harder, her talons started shaking, then plick. The phone broke in half in her grasp, ruined.

She stared at it, the deep dread and self anger that had been stewing within was now bubbling up. With a shout of rage she threw the destroyed phone at the far wall. It hit with a slap and fell beyond ruin where it would remain for several years until an adventuring young man would find it and think it a relic of some past race.

She began to hit her thigh anger with herself for being too lazy to simply go down the hall outside. She stopped with short breaths and huddle in anger at her new body, the smashed phone, and at herself.

"Okay, okay, okay. So the goddamn phone isn't working. That's OKAY! Just got to sit tight and wait for someone to…Shit, no one is going to come here."

She breathed to herself. She pulled her knees to her chest, almost sitting on her lifeless wings and buried her face into her knees. She wouldn't allow herself to cry, though she felt that a good one was needed now. "Someone may come. Just wait here for a while. If no one comes then. go. get. SHIT!!!"  
  
            Hopelessness overwhelmed her. Back in the city if she was lost she stopped and asked for directions or read a map. If that didn't work call somebody for directions or to come get you. Out here she had no one for direction and no phone thanks to her laziness. A wave of panic was about to overcome her. She held back hot tears and realized she was trembling.

"My, aren't you a strange sight." A thick rich voice spoke.

She snapped her head up to see a dark figure in the shadows. Hope bloomed within her; already someone had came. All that fear for nothing. Her dismay fled leaving her almost fatigue with relief.

"Thank God, you came. I thought was going to have to spend the night here." Amber said, getting unsteadily to her feet. "I may look bad, but I'm not dangerous. I'm not going to hurt anybody, but please, you need to call the police for me."

The man laughed. She looked at him, feeling creeps of panic resurface. Did he think she was in costume and was performing for him?

"Child, I believe that I'm far more dangerous than you. If there is anybody in this room that is going to hurt someone, I believe that would be me." Amber backed away carefully. The man took a step forward. She could see that he was tall and muscular, his arms were cross and she could feel his eyes on her. She didn't know what to say. Was this man dangerous or was he just trying to scare her? Or did he really think that she was playacting and he was playing along?

"I don't think you understand." She started. "I'm not playing. I'm serious. This isn't a suit or a costume."

"I know it isn't." He replied curtly. "And you're right that I do not understand. I don't understand what you are doing here."

"I'm sorry if I'm trespassing. I don't know how I got here and I didn't see any signs, so I just came in here to."

"Ah, I see I frighten you." The man said, and he sounded very pleased by this fact. "Fear not, I did not come to run you off. What name do you go by?" His words did little to ease her fears.

"Amber..Amber Lees."

"Amber Lees." The man rolled her name in his mouth. "That is not a Valeran name.  Do you know what you are?"

"Yes, human." She said.

"Human?"

"Was, actually. I mean I am, but different. They did this to me. They changed me into this. It's going to go away soon though. I mean, I may have to take something or some surgery or something."

The man's stare burned into her. God, she was babbling. Why didn't this man just stop fooling around and get her to a phone?

"You smell different."

"What?"

"Your smell is unknown to me, yet it is familiar."

"You can smell me?" Great, this guy was a freaking weirdo. She gritted her teeth and said, "Look, you can smell me later, but for right now can you please take me to a phone so I can call the police?"  
            "I don't know what this "phone" is, but you won't find one in Nosgoth, child."           

            "Quit it! Quit playing with me! It's not funny and it's not helping me. I'm serious! I'm being dead serious about this!"  
            "So am I."

"You are not being serious."

"I wasn't talking about being serious; I was talking about being dead."

"Jesus Christ! You're a fucking weirdo, you know that."

"Very well, child, I've toyed with you enough for now. Though I think it wiser for you to come with me now, I'll leave you on your own, for tonight. But I leave you with this warning. The Serephan are afoot in this swamp. If they find you, they'll kill you. You're safe here for tonight, but I strongly suggest you find a safer haven further north before dawn."

"Thank you, I'll set my alarm clock." Amber replied coolly.  He wasn't really going to leave her here was he?

Before she could say 'don't go' he stepped back and was gone.  A chill crawled down her spine; he was just gone, like the shadows swallowed him.  There were no retreated footsteps or any sound telling her he was still there and leaving.  No man can leave like that, can they?

She hadn't really saw him that well, so how can she be sure that he was a man at all to begin with?  Goosebumps pricked along to light blue skin making her want to rub her arms. 

The weirdo had left the building.

            Amber awoke to find the hole in the ceiling edged with ice and snow was drifting in through. She sat up among her wings and the clothes she had used as blankets. She rubbed her face forcing her eyes to focus. She had half expected to wake up in the small room she had been kept in, but relief and dread filled her when she realized that yesterday was no dream.  
            She crouched against the wall bundled in the extra pants she slipped into and the unbuttoned shirt she was forced to wear backwards because of her wings prevented anything going over her head.

Her wings, though hated, had provided immense amount of warmth if folded against her body. She felt sore and stiffness in her muscles from sleeping in an awkward position. She shifted only slightly to get comfortable. She knew she shouldn't go to sleep, but yet she was so warm within her wings and it was so cold out.

She snuggled into her wings, but before she could unwillingly doze off, her sharp ears picked up a sound from outside. A crunching sound then clicking down the hall. She turned her head to that direction and saw a faint glowing light.

"Use caution, brethren. You know how these demons love dark holes."  A man's voice whispered.

She froze and listened. The sound of footsteps was getting closer. She forced her stiff muscles to move and grab her bag. She remembered the man's warning. This couldn't be real. This had to be make believe or a dream.

It was getting darker, yet she could still make her way down the hall. She didn't know it, but her new golden eyes were preventing her from wandering lost in the dark.                   

"Why don't we just set the damn thing on fire?" A deep impatient voice said. "I don't see any need to come into this cold hole."

"Because stone doesn't burn, brother." Another voice said.

It had a higher tone to it as if it was coming from a smaller man than the deeper voice. "Besides this is more fun."

"It'll be less fun if you two don't shut your holes before you warn the vampires of our position." A voice with authority threatened.

_"Too late."_  Amber thought as she moved down the hall away from them.

 She tried to control her breathing. The cold was making her want to take deep, panting breaths, but she was afraid that she'd make too much sound. She leaned against the wall frightened and cold. The thin cotton shirt she was wearing was not meant to be worn in the cold.

Oh god, she was scared. What if she had landed up in some sort of institution with a bunch of crazies that believe in vampires and the orderlies let them loose in some sort of preserve so they can 'hunt' vampires.

There was no telling what they would do if they saw her.  They would very much consider her a 'vampire'.  She could still hear them getting closer. She was afraid that they were moving faster than she could.

She pushed herself off the wall and continued, keeping a hand on the wall for support.

_"If they find you, they'll kill you." _

She could hear her heart pounding so loud that she was afraid that the men down the hall could hear it. What were they called? Sarafin? Serephan? Isn't that a name of angels?

Her foot kicked a stone. It skittered across the floor with a soft scratching sound, but to her ears it was like a siren going off. She held her breath and prayed that it wasn't loud enough for them hear. The silence that followed was thick enough to cut with a knife.

_"Okay, I guess they didn't hear…"_

"There's something up ahead!"

"Shit!" She hissed as she clambered onward. Their footsteps were getting louder now. They were moving faster now that they were certain they had game ahead of them.

She put her full weight against a wall out of breath. Maybe this was a movie set and the actors were really getting way into their part?

Then she fell through the wall with a scream. She scraped her knees on the fallen stone and barely missed hitting her head on another stone.  Snow slapped against her bare back as she fell among the stones.  Her wings sprawled from her body and she would have made a comical sight if the situation wasn't life and death.   

Were the stones in one wall so loose that her weight alone set them free? Anyway she had to get out of there. The collapsing wall made too much noise not to be ignored by the group of crazies. She pushed herself to her feet, grabbed her bag, and stumbled across the snow, nearly tripping over the fallen stones and into a nearby ditch.

She winced as her bare feet crunched through the snow.  Her numb feet broke through the ice and into the freezing water beneath. She squelched a scream of shock and pain and forced herself to huddle in the water.  She shivered as the freezing water soaked through her pants legs and stabbed at her skin.

She looked over the edge of the snow slope at the hole in the ruins she made. She could hear shuffling from within and a figure appeared at her exit. Her eyes widen in shock and fear.

The man was clad in armor as a medieval knight. He carried a long staff with a knife like ax at the end in one hand and the other grabbed at the stone surrounding the hole as he looked out over the snow.  A large helmet with horns that should belong to some mythical beast crowned the top.   

This isn't real. This couldn't be real. This had to be a movie or a play or something other than real. She held her breath and watched.

"There! Something came through here. I see the tracks!" The man said with authority. Her breath caught in her throat as he pointed in her direction.

Dammit!!!  How could she have forgotten that her stumbling would make such a mess in the snow!?

She turned, slinging the bag to her arm, and dug her claws into the turf and pulled herself put of the ditch and away from the knight. She heard a yell and snow crunching under many feet. Her feet kicked up white clouds as she scrambled through the snow. She could hear them behind her and gaining.

Something whizzed past her sharp ear and then a thunk.  An arrow exploded into a tree barely a half a foot from her head.  Splinters of bark pecked at her cheek.  She screamed and fell forward, arms coming up to protect her head. 

"We got it!  We got the beast!"

"Get away from me!"

A tall man wearing green armor was crossing the ditch gripping his staff firmly in his gloved hands.  It was clear what his intentions were. 

Amber clawed at the snow to get a foothold and run, but fatigue, exhaustion from the stress and hysteria of what had been happening to her for almost months caught with her and she relaxed.

The Saraphan was getting his boots wet in the broken ice that Amber had broken in her struggle to live which was disappeared moments ago.

Maybe it was better this way?  Right?

The Saraphan was climbing up the slope keeping his blood lust eyes on her stilled form,

There's no guarantee that there is a cure for her.  Right?

He was keeping his eyes on her seeing if she planning to try anything.

Better to die than live like a freak, right?

He was certain that she was offering no resistance to her demise.  He raised his staff, the blade seeming to be hungry for her blood.

_Right?___

The blade descending and a dying cry echoed throughout the wooded area followed by a scream.

Amber screamed as the headless body fell on top of her and the now useless staff landed with a soft crunch nearby.  A splash sounded behind her and luckily she didn't realize that it was the head of the Saraphan landing in the ditch.

"Damn!  Another one!"

"A trap!"

"Send for reinforcements!"

Amber shoved the body off and scooted away from it.  Her skin seemed to scream where it touched her.  Something wet and warm was sliding down her back and she knew it wasn't melted snow.

Legs claded in red velvet pants and calf high light blue boots came into her vision out of no where.  Her eyes followed the legs up to a being that could not be possibly human. 

The 'man' had dark green skin; it could almost be mistaken for a dark brown.  His face held wolfish and bat-like features.  Twin bat ears were perched on his bald head and appeared that they could swerve and lay like a cat's. 

He wore a red tunic complete with frills and lace around the collar and opened ended sleeves.  Amber had thought that when men wore lace they didn't look as masculine, but the lace did _nothing_ to hamper this creature's masculinity.  A large jeweled clasped was at his throat and it gleamed at her like a blood red eye.  A sword was gripped in a three digit hand (much like her own to her horror).  The sword's blade was wavy like a wind sign, but it looked lethal and deadly.

As the Saraphan were approaching carefully fully armed with swords and axe like staves, the creature bared his teeth into a hungry grin.  Sharp fangs grazed his bottom lip and gleamed like cold steel.  Amber had a feeling of who would win this battle.  Amber scrambled to get behind him; she sure as hell didn't want to get be in front of him when the inevitable fight started.  She huddled four feet behind him and leaned against a tree.  She didn't feel safe huddled there, but she knew it was safer than being any closer to the creature.

The first man charged forward staff poised for the creature's heart.  The creature parried the staff automatically almost at the last minute, but from the feral grin on his face, it told her that he parried it at exactly the time he wanted to.

The warrior spun to deliver a chop to the creatures head.  The creature danced back, his heel barely missing Amber's right wing, then he came forward so fast, he was almost a blur.  A sickening rip screech into Amber's ears and the man was screaming, his bulging eyes gawking at a bloody stump that had been his hand holding the staff.  The creature ended the man's scream by jamming his sword through the man's throat.  The man died with a gurgle and fell, his blood further staining the snow.  

Amber stared, her breaths coming faster and deeper till she was hyperventilating.  She didn't know it, but her blue lips were trembling as was her whole body.  She saw it all in the blur that was the creature's attack.  A scream and red rushing from fatal wounds each time, but it wasn't until the very end that what she saw made her black out.

The creature stood about the dead bodies and then he held his arms out as if he was going to be crucified at the cross.  Amber felt something pull toward him, no, he was pulling it to him.

She felt something cold and warm at her foot.  She looked down to see blood soaking the snow at spread to her right foot.  She yelped and scrambled from it, and then she froze when she saw it.

The blood stain was moving away from her, toward the creature.  The blood everywhere was moving toward him then emerged from the snow and lifted in jet streams of red ribbon to him.  He opened his mouth impossibly wide, wider than a human could ever do.  The ribbons of blood then streamed into his mouth and into his gullet.  Ribbons were even flying from the bodies, from the wounds.

Amber saw the world turn black and the last thing she felt was the blood snow, now clean and pure cupping her face as she collapsed into a still heap of blue flesh and wings.

Vorador licked his lips clean.  Good slaughter and fresh blood was a good way to start a morning. 

He flicked a fleck of snow from his sleeve and sheathed his sword.  He cocked his head toward fainted woman.  She held the scent of an Ancient such as his master, yet he can detect the trends of human within her body.  Could she have human in her ancestry? 

He stood over her and regarded her with sharp yellow eyes.  She wore strange clothing, it was thin and durable.  Why was she out in this freezing weather wearing such poor protection against the cold?

He could tell from yesterday that she wouldn't last very long alone, but he wasn't ready to take her to his master until he was sure she was safe.  He studied her body and then began to doubt his decision.  She was safe alright; he doubt she could be strong to kill a squirrel. 

He cupped the back of her head and slid his other hand under her knees and lifted her.  He grabbed her bag as he went, making a mental note to go through it later.  He walked carefully so as not to trip on her dragging wings.  They were so abnormally large; he had no choice but to let them drag in the snow.

He glanced at her face again and pondered.  If she is an Ancient, then why does she act like a fledging with no master?  She is so young, not even near half a century old.  Where did she come from? 

The Aerie towered over a frozen lake.  Many who saw it would call it the devil's peak, but those gaze at it, could call a fantasy castle of such.  The frozen lake that surrounded its base gleamed with peace as if the frozen corpses of vampires impaled on stakes weren't littering its surface.

The last remaining Ancient from Nosgoth's unrecorded history stood at the balcony gazing over the lake.  He didn't see the corpses planted near his home like a threat or to taunt him, nor did his see the frozen water.  He was remembering another time at this place.  A time when loneliness was unheard of and sadness and depression in his soul had no place in his heart. 

He thought of them as the better times, times that only he visit in memories, but then reawaken back to the present and see the horror before him and feel the pain in his soul.   

A door open, snapping him back to the present to feel and see the pain.

            "Vorador."  He greeted.

            "Sire, I have something that I believe that you would find interesting."

            Janos turned to give Vorador a nod.  "Very well, child.  Show me."

            "It's in the lower chambers, sire.  I believe that you would understand why I would need it when you see the interesting item."

            The lower chambers were rooms where the Ancient guardians had dwelt with their families.  The Aerie was not always known as it is in the present.  Back then it was called the Santuary of the Gaurdians.  Janos liked to keep the rooms untouched, but cleaned, as if they were waiting for their occupants to return.

            "It is well.  Show me what you have."

            Janos followed Vorador into the room.  He noted the lights were dimmed with only a candle burning on a bedstead.  Then he froze as a whiff of Ancient blood touched his nostrils. 

            _"This can't be."_

His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and he saw her. 

            The girl was curled into a fetal position under the sheet.  Her large, large ebony wings stretched over the edge of the bed and onto the floor.  Her skin was the blue color of Ancients, but was very light color almost turquoise. 

            "Where did you find her?"

            "In ruins within the swamp, the Saraphan almost added her to the bodies of our kind that litter Nosogth."  Vorador answered.  "I take it that you do not know her."

            "No, I don't."  Janos replied.  He hesitated before stepping closer and took her talon into his.  She felt warm and real enough.  This was no memory from the past.

            "She claims that her name is Amber Lees."  Vorador replied.  "Does that mean anything to you?"

            "No, it's not a name that I recognize.  She's not very old, almost as young as a babe."  Janos mused. 

            "Then how could she come to be here?" 

            "She could possibly come from Ancient time, unless…."

            Vorador shook his head.  "I already checked the Time Traveling device.  The cave is still sealed and untouched."

            "She's feverish."

            "She was almost naked in the snow when I found her."

            "Why did you not bring her to me sooner?"  Janos gave a disapproving look.

            "I did not want to bring any danger to you, sire."  Vorador gave Janos a strong look.  "Danger is already heading toward you right now."

            "Please, Vorador, let's not discuss this right now.  Not in here.  Later."

            "There's may not be time for 'later', master."  
            "Vorador."  Janos said firmly, ending the discussion.

            Vorador relented, but the look on his face told all that he was going to finish the discussion later. 

            Janos sighed.  Better to get it over with now.  "Very well.  If you insist we discuss this, then we will, but not in here, nor in front of her."

            "What do you plan to do with her?"

            "First, I'll give her something for the fever."  Janos slid her arm back under the blanket and pulled the covers up to her chin.  "Then what I'll do next is up to her."

            Amber's yellow eyes slowly opened, she blinked away sleep.  Was she home now or back in the small room?  Neither, she was in completely new place.  Her body was curled on a soft round shaped bed that was lined with white fur.  It tickled her skin as she moved.  The bed was almost canopy with a wide round ring of curtains.    

            She groaned and sat up and realized that she was naked.  She grabbed a thick blanket and wrapped it around herself and she stood.  She pushed aside the curtains to see a gorgeous bedroom.

            The carpet was a deep red hue and it was so soft to her cloven feet.  The furniture had to be worth thousands.  Deep chestnut with beautiful designs carved into their surfaces.  A full size mirror graced her sight.

            She stared at herself.  This was the first time she had been able to really see herself in a mirror since her change.  Her blue skin and large wings seem to mock her.  She padded to the mirror and touched her face, running a three finger hand down her cheek.  The face was hers, but the skin, the eyes, and the hair weren't.  It was strange looking into a mirror and seeing someone completely different, yet so familiar at the same time. 

            She rubbed her eyes and turned away from the mirror.  She saw a large wooden door and decided to explore and maybe find out where she was this time around. 


	4. Who am Me?

            She had managed to find clothing in a wardrobe on the far side of the chamber.  It resembled a white dress with red trimming along the hem of the skirt and the edge of the sleeves.  It was backless and the front was held up by a choker around the neck.  The dress was a perfect fit and it strangely and coincidentally accommodated her large wings.

            By habit, Amber looked about for a mirror to see if the dress looked right; then remembered that her body no longer looked right.  She refused to see the abnormal blue skin, the huge digits, and the extra limbs. 

            She stared down at her talons.  They were no longer covered in mud and filth, someone had cleaned them carefully.  She sniffed them and could faintly smell a soothing fragrance of scented soap.  She sniffed her arm and could smell the same fragrance.  Someone had not only cleaned her hands, but had given her a bath as well. 

            It unnerved her that someone had stripped her, seen, and touched her misshapen body.  It was worse than the time she had woken up in bed with a complete stranger after a college party.  She was lucky that she hadn't contracted AIDS or had gotten pregnant.  The guy had tried to setup a formal date with her, but she had quickly turned him down and hadn't seen him since.  She still didn't know his name.       

            She looked around for some underwear, but she couldn't find anything that resembled any.  She decided to go without; the skirt was thick and reached nearly to her ankles.  It's not like she was going to end up flashing anybody. 

            The door was heavy oak and stood solid before her.  She was relieved when the handled turned easily in her hand and the door opened almost without a creak.  The hinges must have been well oiled. 

            She walked out into the long hallway and notice that the thick carpet was red with gold fringe at the edges.  Her cloven feet sank into the carpet and she noticed for the first time she could move without trouble.  She could easily keep her balance, though that the wings were a constant weight at her back. 

            She strode down the hall and looked about.  There were various décor on the walls and on small tables that sit against the walls.  She had to ease her way for that her large wings threatened to knock vases and strange objects off the walls. 

            She noticed that the temperature was getting colder raising goose bumps off her blue skin.  She began to wish that she had found a coat too as wisps of her breath greeted her sight. 

            She folded her arms to her chest for some warmth and saw an opening with light blue light spilling through.  She came to the opening, she froze in shock.

            Various towers of different heights filled her vision.  They were all connected by bridges.  Up above, she did not see the sun, the moon, nor did she see the sky at all.  It was as if these strange artifices were built within a mountain.  She looked down and saw that she was within a similar tower.  A wave of vertigo made her dizzy and she leaned against the edge of the opening. 

            A bridge lay before her, leading to another tower.  She could backtrack and see if there was another door, but even if she did that, it wouldn't be the way out.  She studied the bridge.

            "What stupid idiot wouldn't put in a set of handrails with a bridge?"  She muttered under her breath.

            "Master, you have to understand.  The Seraphan are moving toward you now.  They are getting braver.  It will not be long before they lay siege to this stronghold itself."

            "This stronghold has survived hundreds of sieges and had stood thousands of years."  Janos replied from his chair near the fire.  It was a chair built for his kind.  It looked like an ordinary chair, but it had a wide slit in the back for wings to be threaded through.

            "This is different."  Vorador leaned against the huge mantle of the fireplace.  "Humans are constantly growing.  They are killing off vampires faster than I can create them.  If this lasts, then centuries from now, it can be possible that the vampire race will be extinct."

            Janos said nothing, but stared into the crackling fire.  His eyes were lost in thought and Vorador waited for a reply, but none came. 

            "Master, I know I have said this before, but I would not disturb you repeatedly, if I was not sure that this was the only way.  You must leave this aerie.  Take the sword and the female.  It's no longer safe for you here."

            "Where then, should I go?" 

            "To my mansion.  The humans fear me; they will not dare set foot in Termagant Forest.  Better yet, you could go back to the ancient city.  It's still hidden, and only known by few of the Circle.  They would not dare make a move against the city."

            Still, Janos did not answer.  Instead he stood and walked across the room toward a long gold chest.  On its top was inscribed the Blood Reaver's insignia. 

            "Duty forbids me to leave this place, until the one foretold comes.  To leave now, would be to spit upon the prophets' faces.  I cannot leave until I fulfill my purpose here."

            "What the girl?  Is she your foretold savior?"        


End file.
